Law and Ethics of Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing
The Petrie-Flom Center hosted a discussion of the issues surrounding noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT), a screening method for detecting certain specific chromosomal abnormalities, as well as sex, in utero. NIPT may help mothers avoid other tests that could put their pregnancies at risk, but the ability to detect substantial information about a developing fetus with such ease raises a wide range of important ethical and legal issues. Our discussion covered background on the technology, what makes NIPT unique, issues with global dissemination, eugenics concerns and legislative responses.
Vardit Ravitsky, Associate Professor in the Bioethics Programs at the School of Public Health, University of Montreal and Director of the Ethics and Health axis of the Centre de recherche en éthique de l'Université de Montréal
Subhashini (Shubha) Chandrasekharan, Assistant Research Professor, Duke Global Health Institute
Diane Paul, Professor Emerita, University of Massachusetts Boston and Research Associate, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University
Moderated by: Holly Lynch, Executive Director, Petrie-Flom Center, Harvard Law School
Cosponsored by the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School and the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School, with support from the Oswald DeN. Cammann Fund.